dates usually involved only two people

[Devyn Solway]

Yes, Devyn was most certainly riled up. She was that tea pot on the stove just about to start whistling with anger and being done. Done in terms of taking this watcher and all their stupid watcher job stuff. She disliked it. She did what she wanted, Zoe was her girlfriend, and the same should apply to her. Maybe I could offer up a trade. Devyn thought to herself, wondering if the staff would allow her to take Zoe place in the whole being watched sort of thing. Devyn was confident in her ways of getting around and out of things if she was in Zoe's position and was up for the possible trouble she would get into. Yet, it was probably because of that reason that Zoe was the one being watched. That and Zoe was the one with her power and all that was bringing in fear. Yet Devyn would have been more than happy to take that 'Enemy Number 1' label away from Zoe. She was supposed to protect her after all. That was what friends...girlfriends did for one another.

Devyn followed along wherever Zoe was leading them. True she was a leader but in a lot of cases she opted to do more so following when it came to hanging out with people. She was not good with the whole picking things and being in charge if she had not planned an event. Zoe planned this date so Zoe was in charge of what games they played and where they went. That and Devyn was trying to be more about Zoe and less about herself to be fair and all. Green eyes wondering around over the different games, tempted to play something with fighting in it to get rid of this pent up anger she was feeling. Yet Zoe was suggesting a racing game. That could still be a lot of fun and a good way to get rid of some anger. Crushing her opponents in a race and possibly crashing their vehicles into things would probably help her feel better. "Sounds good to me." Devyn said, still in a simple tone as she was trying to get back to that happy state she had been in before. Pretty sure that she was not bipolar or anything, but felt like it a little bit.

Zoe pointed out one of the racing games and Devyn was wondering which one they should play. Would Zoe be up for being on a bike or one of those that she had to sit on with her legs across something. Devyn more so saw Zoe sitting all sideways style, which would not bold well on a game such as that. So maybe one of the ones where you sat down and raced. So a normal car game. "Race car game good by you?" Devyn asked, pointing to one of them where they would still race against each other. She caught Zoe looking off else where and gave her shoulder a poke. "You alright?" Devyn asked, sounding a little concerned.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Good, good, yes, they could just focus on another game and forget about the other troubles. That was why they were here in the first place: to forget about the world around them and just be the two of them for one. This didn't stop Zoe from outright staring at the other game, enjoying the bright lights and stuff. Strange, but she could recall being a little more obsessed with drearier things... had that been because of her situation though? Yes, she was still the Lesbian Pikachu, but she had a girlfriend and apparently some others to support her, if mostly in the form of various adults.

A poke on Zoe's shoulder shook her out of her thrall, making her turn to look at Devyn, blinking. 'What? Oh, I'm fine, really," she flashed a smile. "I was just, um,' she fidgeted, awkwardly shifting her weight before nodding and pointing at the other game. "I was just--looking at that, I guess. I'm not really good at these video games," she looked down, obviously embarrassed to having even looked at it, let alone being caught looking.

"We should probably play something else,' she mumbled, moving toward the car racing one. her eyes stayed on the brightly colored game though, and she nearly tripped over the machine, barely managing to catch herself. Zoe looked down again, wishing that she could hide or something. She was the older one here: she shouldn't be so enthralled by a video game obviously designed for children...

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn smiled back at Zoe at receiving the smile from her girlfriend and hearing that she was fine. Yet there was fidgeting and Zoe clearly wanting to say something but being Zoe she was most likely too embarrassed to say anything about what she was thinking about. Devyn did wonder for a moment if Zoe was always going to be like that. Not that it was a big deal or anything, but Devyn figured that Zoe would have been comfortable around Devyn to say pretty much anything that was on her mind. Yet Devyn knew that it must have been a little hard for a girl who wore her emotions like Zoe to just come out and say anything that was on her mind to a person who liked to push most emotions away like Devyn. Funny how they were still going out after all of this time, but they had their fights. Fights were normal in a relationship, but they of course were having a bit more then what was good. Not today however, one could have started but it had been avoided that’s to how easily Zoe forgave Devyn.

Devyn looked off at the game Zoe was talking about and blinked a few times before looking to Zoe. Zoe of course looking down at the ground clearly embarrassed and Devyn more or less confused. Before Zoe had been more on the darker side of things, yet now she was looking at something so colorful and clearly was meant for kids. Devyn was not one to talk all that much since she did like to wear My Little Pony merchandise to bed on occasion, but that was mostly of Rainbow Dash and Vinyl Scratch. Both ponies could be said to be more so tomboys if they were human or what have you. "Well uh..." Devyn started to say, wondering if she could actually try the game with Zoe. Could they even fit on it? Was probably possible, Devyn didn't know, she did not look at the game for too long. Her eyes were sensitive after all and all those colors plus the lights in the arcade was not really all that pleasing to Devyn’s pupils.

Zoe moved on however, nearly tripping and Devyn of course reached out to prevent Zoe from falling and to catch her in a way. Zoe managing either way. "If you want to play it we can." Devyn just went with it, letting the words leave her mouth even if she was clearly not enthused about it. Yet she would do it if Zoe really wanted to give it a try. She had to be willing to make sacrifices for Zoe after all. Zoe did it all the time, and Devyn did in a small way but this was about Zoe. Not about Devyn. "Just...tell me what you want." Devyn said simply and gave Zoe's hand a small squeeze since she was here for her after all, even if she was getting that needing to get away feeling slowly creeping up.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe could almost feel Devyn shifting, the disbelief almost palpable. It wasn't like Zoe could really pick what she liked or anything. In truth, she probably would've vastly preferred a slower game that involved wandering through an open world or perhaps something with a moving, poetic undertone to it. Such games did not exist in the flashing, loud world of the arcade, however. Hence why Zoe was instead looking at something filled with rainbows and magic and sort of felt like that reflected her current life to some degree, which just felt... strange to her.

If she wanted to play, they could. Zoe looked up at Devyn, not quite believing that such words were coming out of her mouth. That was not something that Devyn would do, at least not willingly, not normally. She gave Zoe's hand a squeeze, insisting that Zoe say what she wanted. But hadn't this whole date been her plan, what she wanted? Hadn't she already gotten the pikachu that now dwelt in the bag, along with two copies of photos (again, that she'd wanted; well the second copy anyway)? And hadn't she dragged Devyn to the ski-ball game earlier? Of course, Devyn had chosen the dancing game, but then again, Zoe had chosen the racing game.

"Whatever you want to do is fine," she tried instead, shifting. "Really, I'm happy when you're happy," she did look at the bright game again, flushing, "besides, that game will probably hurt your eyes or something,' she decreased her volume with that next bit, until she was practically mumbling the last few words, her eyes lowering once more in that familiar shame.

[Devyn Solway]

Yes Zoe had picked all of the games; pretty much everything that they were doing on this date was up to Zoe. That was what Devyn wanted, it was safe that way. If they did what Zoe wanted then she figured she would not make Zoe feel like she had to do other things in order to make Devyn happy. Plus Devyn wanted to prove that she could in fact be happy just doing the simple things with Zoe. It was just the feelings, urges, and desires that were there that got in the way from time to time. Could you really blame her? She was used to getting certain things out of people, especially one that she was in a relationship with. Devyn and Zoe had been together for a month or so, possibly more...Devyn could not recall at the moment. Yet...the main 'prize' had not been given, sure they pushed things along, but Devyn never ever had to wait a month to get it, ever.

Zoe turned it back on Devyn, saying that it was up to what Devyn wanted and she had to bite her tongue to keep herself from saying something she might regret. Devyn was about to say something but then Zoe said she was having fun so long as Devyn was happy and then brought up the whole eye thing. Looking down with a shameful look that had Devyn letting out a sigh. "Yeah, it hurts my eyes a little, but I can just put my shades back on. Plus if it’s for you Zoe I don't mind having to deal with a little bit of pain. If you want to play it we can. If not then we will just play the car racing games." Devyn said simply as she moved to put an arm around Zoe to pull closer to her wanting to have Zoe close and to look her in the eyes. Not saying anything for a moment. "If you leave it to me to pick, I'm going to say one more game and then that we should just go back home." Devyn admitted as she looked at Zoe.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Sighs, and Devyn offered to put on her shades. Zoe wasn't sure she really wanted that, but it seemed like Devyn was almost immediately moving to hug her. She wasn't sure what that last bit was about either; it sounded almost like it was trying to get Zoe to make a decision, which of course just made the poor girl panic for a few moments. "But, but, I arranged time!" she said, wanting to say that she had hoped that they could maybe get a drink in the foodcourt and do window shopping and stuff. "Do you really want to go home already?"

This bothered Zoe far, far more than picking a game. She actually turned to look up at Devyn, not able to hide the hurt in her eyes from the mere suggestion of it. Devyn had been saying this whole time that Zoe's idea had been a good one. But could it be all that good if Devyn was trying to get out of it already? Maybe Zoe just wasn't good at this sort of thing...

[Devyn Solway]

Zoe had arranged time; Devyn knew that, she was just getting that need for space creeping up again. Every time, it just felt like she could only handle being around Zoe for a certain amount of time. That did happen from time to time with Devyn and her being around others. She was a loner at heart and sometimes she honestly just wanted to be alone, to be left alone, and not deal with people for a little while. It was not like she was trying to get away from Zoe, just away from the feelings or whatever she was trying to get away from. It could have been a number of things and she just didn't feel like working it out when she was supposed to be distracting herself with the date. "I'm just..." Devyn said with another sigh as she let go of Zoe, not sure how to answer the question really.

Not helped but the look that Zoe was now giving Devyn that just made her feel terrible. Such hurt and Devyn was again the cause of it when she honestly was not trying to be. Why was it so hard for her to just keep Zoe happy? Why was it so hard for her to remain happy and content with being around Zoe? "I'm just...tried." Devyn said, feeling like that was the best way to describe her mixed up state and desire to just lay down somewhere. She didn't actually want to sleep but she just wanted a break, and the relationship was one thing she wanted a break from. "How about however many game you want to play, we grab something to eat, and then head back?" Devyn asked, offering up a new idea of what they could do.

"Prom is still a good bit away; we can just go prom shopping on another date." Devyn offered up since she really could not see herself looking at dress with how she was feeling right now. Honestly she didn’t feel like playing any games or eating, she was just done. Yet Zoe had made time and Devyn didn't want to upset Zoe, this was supposed to be a good date. Devyn was just...she just didn't know. Either way she let go of Zoe and took a step back, hands moving to go into her pockets and looking at Zoe to make a decision or to agree or whatever it was that Zoe wanted to do. This was all for Zoe, that was what mattered. Yet...Devyn was still being selfish and wanting to just end it after they were done with the arcade and food.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe wanted to ask what Devyn just was, but instead found herself hanging on each and every word, her breath catching, wondering what had bothered Devyn now. Hadn't they been having fun? Hadn't they been bonding as a couple? What could possibly have bothered Devyn now? She insisted she was tired, which just had Zoe staring, blinking, not at all believing that lie. And for Zoe to not believe Devyn, well, that was saying something. She knew Devyn though, knew that Devyn certainly wasn't going to get tired just from playing a few games. Mere moments ago she'd been enthusiastically dancing, and she'd practically been ready to maul someone just a few moments after that. No, this felt weird, different. Devyn set something else up, claiming that they could play whatever and then eat.

Zoe wanted to protest, especially as Devyn insisted that prom was still a ways away. Didn't Devyn realize how difficult it was to pick a prom dress? Not to mention the fact that Zoe had to ask permission to leave the school now, and who knew when she'd be able to do that again? Devyn made the offer to at least keep the date going, but she sounded, well, she sounded tired now. Why? Even Zoe wasn't tired, and she was vastly out of shape when compared to devyn.

"Okay, a game it is,' said Zoe, nodding. She looked at the bright, shining one again, and felt the urge to just insist that they play that one, since Devyn was determined to be difficult. Maybe something bright and sunny would actually help her. If nothing else, it would certainly shift Devyn's attention onto that instead of, well, whatever it was that was bothering her. Zoe nodded and approached it, "We'll play this one then," she said, nodding, "and then we'll look and see if we have any tokens left."

Zoe was tempted to point out that they could buy more, but she didn't want to pressure Devyn overmuch. Instead, she put a few tokens into the machine, nearly giggling as it let out a sound that tinkled and practically screamed rainbows and light. She beamed at Devyn then adjusted into the strange seat, which looked something like a saddle mixed with a ski-doo, complete with reins. The character selection screen would be up then, with nine different fantastical mounts to pick from.

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn was tired, more so mentally that was just leaking into her physically tired state that she just wanted to slump down and give up. Just lie down on the floor and give up on all of this. On trying to be a good girlfriend, making Zoe happy, ignoring how she was feeling, and just everything that was just wearing her down. Why was this so hard? Could she just not stick to the fun time? Was it just so easy to throw off her mood as soon as Zoe stopped picking and wanted Devyn to participate in picking a game? She wanted to stay with Zoe, she still wanted to be on this date, but then there was that larger part of her that just wanted to go home and be alone for a few hours. She was just feeling tired and honestly wanted to push people away or avoid them for some time alone. Yet she had already been doing that a little to Zoe, well more so on the not being around her as much. "Damn it." Devyn muttered under her breath due to her mounting frustration with mostly herself.

Zoe made a choice. They would play a game. Zoe didn't even speak about if she was fine with just playing a game, eating, and then leaving. No talk of prom so Devyn felt that it was safe to assume that Zoe was in agreement and okay with the change in plans then. If not she should speak up because Devyn had no way of knowing and in her current mood she was not all into the whole readying body language. Not that it would be that hard with Zoe anyways. Devyn raised an eyebrow at the fact that Zoe did pick the really girly game but she moved to follow Zoe over to it without a word as she put back on her shades and adjusted them. "Sounds like a plan." Devyn said simply, not trying to sound distant or out of it, but she kind of was. Working on not being so, but it was taking a moment as she looked over the game and was trying to process it. Sacrifices.

Devyn moved to get onto the machine; moving around a little to get comfortable, trying to figure out who designed this game, and if it was actually popular. Token went in and Devyn was pretty sure if she got sick she would be spewing rainbows after watching and now going to play this game. Zoe was beaming up at her and Devyn could not help but to smile a little that started to become a chuckle as she grabbed a hold of the reins. "If anyone I know sees me playing this game, I can kiss my reputation goodbye." Devyn said chuckling as she adjusted herself and got ready to play, looking through the mounts and would pretty much pick anything so long as it was not a unicorn.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe noticed that Devyn felt distant still, noticed, but elected to continue not saying anything. Zoe could pretend that nothing was wrong if that was what Devyn needed or wanted. She did whatever Devyn wanted in the relationship; that was how things worked, right? Something about that did sound and feel a little off to Zoe, like she should be fighting to keep her own personality or do something more for herself than simply submitting. But she loved Devyn; nothing could change that.

Easy to forget it all with their being on the various machines and facing the flashing screen. Zoe looked over the various mounts: three unicorns, some sort of manticore thing that looked obscenely cute, a dragon, two pegasi, a griffon, and a strange creature that looked sort of like an adorable moth that let out glitter and such with each flap of its wings. This last was the one Zoe selected, working the handles on the saddle thing to get it into the right position.

"You can just say you're doing it because your girlfriend wants to," said Zoe, focusing mostly on the screen, readying for when the game started. She braced herself, adjusting and almost surprised to find that she fit fairly well on the machine. Then again, Zoe wasn't all that much bigger than the average twelve year old, so that wast o be expected on some level. "Whenever you're ready," she said, attempting to get her serious game face on, focusing on the screen. In fact, she looked more focused than ever now, considering, well, the game they were playing.

[Devyn Solway]

Devyn honestly didn't want Zoe to just always submit to her, even more so when something was wrong. If there was one thing that was a big deal to Devyn, it was people being themselves. She didn’t actually want to change someone in a negative way, in a positive way if anything. Just pull them out of their shells, get them to make their own decisions and stand firm behind them. That was what she had been trying to do with Zoe and sometimes it seemed like it would be working and other times not so much. There was nothing Devyn could do about it since she could not read Zoe's mind and fully know what was going on. She just knew that she personally was not doing so well and it was bothering her to no end.

The game was a good distraction, but that was all it was for Devyn. A distraction that still had the other thoughts lingering but she was actually doing her best to push them out. She wanted to have fun with Zoe and for Zoe to have fun as well; it was just feeling like that was becoming hard. Probably because Devyn was not sharing what was really on her mind and possibly the same thing in Zoe's case. Devyn was starting to wonder more and more how they had made it this far together and pretty much had a good idea why. Either way, she was looking through the mounts, clearly ignoring the unicorns and not even sure about the other animals. This is cruel. Devyn thought because it was a mix of too much cute that she just wanted it gone. She ended up selecting the dragon, because dragons were pretty cool. Noting that Zoe went for the moth and found that interesting in a way. Moths would go towards lights and even flames and how Zoe was like a moth and Devyn felt like that fire. Luring Zoe in more and more, only to be something that was hurting her.

"Right." Devyn responded back with a small nod, looking around a bit distracted and moving around in the saddle. She was not really built for this sort of thing since she was pretty tall and built. It was uncomfortable to say the least, but again she deal with it all. After adjusting another moment she gave another small nod. "Ready." Devyn responded, getting distracted for a moment at two very attractive people in the corner of her eye, but forced herself to focus on the screen.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

The various fantastical mounts lined themselves on the screen, and brilliantly colored letters and a chirpy announcer told them to ready themselves. Zoe hazarded one last look over at Devyn while the race started, seeing how awkward her larger girlfriend looked on the machine, "There's another rung lower down," she instructed, pointing, not sure if Devyn understood, "for your feet. You just need to adjust it. They built the machine for parents---" before Zoe could finish, however, the screen was announcing that they had to start.

Zoe let out a little squeal before turning her attentions back onto her own. She adjusted her speed, the moth-creature soon taking off, flying remarkably well. Zoe found that she'd picked one of the more balanced mounts, one that let her move fairly easily and with decent speed. The stage they raced through looked to be some kind of mountainous fairy land, complete with fairy rings, rainbows, and the occasional serpent poking through a waterfall. Zoe picked up the controls easily enough. You flew through various magical fairy dust trails to pick up more speed or unique "spells" that could help your racer.

It was a cart game, basically, and Zoe soon found herself creeping up high in the rankings. She stuck her tongue out as she focused, enjoying herself at least as much as she had so far. The cheery land did make her want to stop and stare for a bit, and she did accidentally drive her moth off a cliff at one point. That probably would've dropped her out of the race, had she not gotten lucky and landed on a secret route that instead helped her move a few more positions forward, as well as treating her to a truly beautiful rendition of some kind of waterfall cave tunnel.

[Devyn Solway]

Okay, this game was way too happy, rainbows, and sunshine for Devyn to handle. Even more so since she was more into things that were dark and well for older kids, since that was what she was and what she was attracted to. This game had its charm but it was pushing it just a little bit too much for Devyn. Probably not really helped by her current mood on everything that might have been making her miss out on the fun behind it. The design was interesting enough and Devyn might have enjoyed it more if it was a handheld game where she could play it in the solitude or privacy of her room. Out in the arcade however, they were just out there, and just Devyn felt a little odd about it all, probably because the seat.

Devyn honestly was thankful for Zoe pointing out that there was a place for her to adjust the seat. Which made sense, since there had to be kids who would not play a game without their parents. Not that Devyn had enough time to adjust it as the game started up. She was just going to have to deal with it and make sure to stretch really good after this was over so she didn't pull anything or make something stiff after having to be stuck like this for the duration of the game. "Thanks." Devyn said, not sure if Zoe heard her since Zoe seemed to be getting into the game. Devyn taking a moment to figure out how they game worked and picked it up. It was like the go-cart games, just well sitting on holding reins in your hand instead of a controller. Devyn had forgotten to even look at the stats and just had picked the dragon because it looked cool. Okay, this is not that hard... Devyn thought to herself, but that was not reflecting on the screen.

First she was going the wrong way for a moment, then when she had had figured out how to turn around she almost fell off but instead ran into something and spent her time trying to back up to get back on track. She was in last place and falling behind horribly. Good thing Devyn was not like a bad sport or anything when it came to games, even if it didn't feel good to lose in a game. Devyn eyes were all over the screen since she had a habit of reacting to things that would pop up and the flashes across the screen or what was going on. She had shades on so it was not hurting her eyes outright, but she was getting distracted. Now remembering why she didn't play games with such bright flashy colors. She was still sort of having fun navigating her dragon along and at least caught up to the other racers at some point. Still in steady last, but not saying anything.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe did hear the thanks and offer a cheery welcome. She was mostly focused on the game though, zooming along, thrilled that she might actually place. however, she soon figured out that Devyn wasn't doing as well, and Zoe, being Zoe, wasn't about to let that happen. She'd learned most of the ins and outs of the course by now, so she worked her moth over to fly more or less beside Devyn's dragon. At one point, she nudged Devyn off into the little shortcut she'd discovered, landing behind it soon enough. Zoe hazarded flashing a smile at her girlfriend in real life before zooming forward. The move had cost Zoe several places, but she and Devyn should be in roughly the middle of the pack.

And Zoe's luck apparently held, Fate deciding he wanted things to be happy or something. So she ran right into a set of faerie dust that came loaded with one of the more powerful spells available. Zoe let it loose, a streaming comet arching through the screen to knock aside every mount between Zoe and first. She and Devyn should, by all rights, zoom right up, taking places near the top again. Even better: they were hitting the last lap, which meant that they had a chance of actually finishing strong.

[Devyn Solway]

A cheery welcome, but Zoe was clearly focused on the game as Devyn was trying to be as well. It was not all that bad once she got used to all the colors and the movement on the screen. Figuring out a little better how things were supposed to work and how to best use her dragon were slowly coming to her, but not enough to help her get out of her last place position. Not that she cared, still just doing this because Zoe wanted to. Yet...she understood that kind of attitude might not have been the best when you were trying to have fun. Even more so when Zoe seemed to be having a lot of fun and doing really well at the game. Then Zoe mount was moving beside Devyn's which confused Devyn for a moment. She better not be throwing the game on purpose or anything. Devyn thought to herself, not wanting that at all. If Zoe was capable of winning then that was what she should do and not worry about how Devyn was doing.

Devyn opened her mouth to say as much but Zoe nudged her off the side of the ring and Devyn was about to ask just how bad Zoe wanted to crush her at this game? It would make sense to get out your inner anger towards someone in a video game, but the nudge led on to a secrete path. Zoe giving Devyn a smile and Devyn could not help but to smile a little bit back. Zoe was an interesting one, for sure. It was a bit scary to think just about how much Zoe cared for her and wanted them to be together in things even a game. They were in the middle of the pack now so at least it was not last place. Yet Zoe lucked out and hit some of that fairy dust stuff and was moving fast towards the front. Devyn being right next to Zoe benefited from this boon as well and they were closer to the top of the pack now.

"Master of this game already Zoe?" Devyn asked with a small chuckle as she still mainly focused on the game. If Zoe was going to put in the effort to keep Devyn with her to keep at the head of the pack, then Devyn was going to do the same. She was still working on getting it all down but she was able to keep right behind Zoe and still had a small smile on her face. One more lap and at least Zoe would be able to get first place and Devyn hopefully third.